Congressman Accuses Colin Kaepernick Of Supporting ISIS

In the latest controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick, the NFL player has been accused by an Iowa congressman of supporting the Islamic State.

Colin Kaepernick has earned his fair share of attention over the past few weeks for sparking a peaceful protest among American athletes, but the latest Islamophobic reaction to his protest is just over the top bonkers.

On Tuesday during an interview with Newsmax host Steve Malzberg, Iowa Rep. Steve King railed against Kaepernick for being an “Islamic State sympathizer” for kneeling, Salon reported.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is allegedly “undermining patriotism” and must therefore support Islamic terrorism, according to King’s twisted logic.

King said, “When he steps out on the stage, the world stage, he’s taking advantage of that and he’s undermining patriotism. For me, if I’m the coach, I would say, ‘You’re done. Until you take a knee and beg forgiveness from the American people, you’re not going to set foot out on this field again.’”

The GOP congressman fumbled over his reasoning for arriving at such Islamophobic conclusions, but he attempted to blame Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa Diab, for the apparent “brainwashing” which would lead the NFL star to support the infamous terror group.

King stated, "his activism is sympathetic to ISIS... I understand that he has an Islamic girlfriend that is his fiance and that this has changed him."

Diab, who is known to be Muslim, has been blamed for Kaepernick’s protest before, among other things he’s done such as growing out his beard and posting about Islam on his social media accounts. But, to accuse the athlete of supporting Islamic extremism simply because of her religious affiliation, is extreme nonsense.

Last week Kaepernick denied rumors that he was Muslim, speaking with USA Today. He said that while he has "great respect for the religion," he is not Muslim himself.

He acknowledged the fact that American Islamophobia and fear of protesting against patriotism contributed to these reports. He said, "People are terrified of [Muslims] to the point where Trump wants to ban all Muslims from coming here, which is ridiculous."